Orsa Novus
by Lena108
Summary: A New Beginning. The war is over. Harry Potter, narrowly escaping the Dark Lord’s spell due to Ginny Weasley, has gone into hiding. No one is safe. Continued summary inside.
1. Prologue: The Return

_Orsa Novus_

The war is over. Harry Potter, narrowly escaping the Dark Lord's spell due to Ginny Weasley, has gone into hiding. No one is safe. Voldemort has come into power, forcing all resistance to go underground. Rebel forces have been captured and forced into the castle that was once Hogwarts. Now only a select few can save the world from the hands of the Dark Lord.

* * *

Prologue: The Return

The wind blew fiercely against the windows of a rickety old house, forcing the shutters to bang against it loudly. It was perhaps a good thing that it was rather isolated from people. The night air was chill, intensified by the harsh wind. It was then that a figure appeared just outside the house with a small 'pop'. He drew his cloak around him, attempting to shield himself. He tapped the lock with a long, thin stick before turning the doorknob and stepping inside, forcing the door shut behind him.

Remus Lupin pulled his hood off and shrugged off his cloak just in time to see an elderly witch and wizard hurrying his way. Molly Weasley smiled, her almost panicked nature disappearing entirely as she noticed who it was.

"Remus, thank heavens," she breathed, pulling him into a tight hug. "You gave us all a start, I'll have you know."

"You must forgive me, Molly," the younger man pleaded as he was forced into the embrace, though he could not keep the smile off his face. "I thought it best to stay as long as I could. We need as much information as we can get."

"Yes, yes, very true, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, nodding vigorously. "It would have been lovely of you to send an owl."

"I couldn't risk that," Remus told her, almost sternly, his brows wrinkled into a frown. "I wish I could have, but it may have endangered everyone here."

"He does have a point, dear," Arthur Weasley piped up, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "More danger than we're already in would not be to our best interests."

"Yes, of course. You're right," Mrs. Weasley nodded, agreeing, though halfheartedly. "Would you like a spot of tea? I've just made some." Without waiting for an answer, she hurried off, leaving Remus with her husband.

"Arthur, how are things here?" Remus asked as Mrs. Weasley disappeared around the corner.

"Same as they were when you left, Remus," he stated, sadly. "No new information. Yet, we haven't lost anyone else either, so in a way it's been a bit of a relief."

"I suppose, I must say, I will be able to rest much easier with Voldemort gone," Remus admitted, ignoring as Mr. Weasley cringed at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. "Until that time comes, we should all be on our guard. How is dear Andromeda?"

"Still rather upset," Mr. Weasley admitted, glancing back toward the sitting room with a small sigh. "The poor woman is rather distraught, despite all of our efforts to assure her that Nymphadora will be all right."

"She knows as well as we all do that nobody can possibly know what is to befall her daughter," Remus glanced back as well and frowned. If Sirius were with her, he would certainly know what to do. Remus could distinctly remember a crisis before, though, admittedly never something of such a weight.

"Ah, yes, very true indeed," Mr. Weasley nodded and shook his head. He then glanced around, as if checking for eavesdroppers before clapping Remus on the shoulder, hunching over to speak to him softly. "So, ah… what did you find out?"

"Another former Order member has been killed," Remus told him sadly, biting his lip. "They're dropping off like flies, Arthur. We need to find the rest before the Death Eaters do.

"But how many are left, Remus?" Mr. Weasley asked, though, the way his voice shook, it was easy to tell that he was almost afraid of the answer.

"Only a handful," Remus told him with another sad sigh. "We need to find Horace Slughorn. He's done a masterful job of hiding himself, but I'm not entirely sure as to how long he can keep it up. There are a few other professors who I know are still out there. We must find them as well."

"Indeed," Mr. Weasley agreed, standing up straight as Mrs. Weasley reentered the room with a tea tray.

"Come along, you two," she said, beckoning for them to follow her into the sitting room. "We all could use the company here."

"Ah, yes. I think a good talk is something we all need," Remus grinned, quite happily following Mrs. Weasley toward the couch where there was yet one open spot. Mr. Weasley took a large armchair. Remus took the spot next to a woman about five years his senior. Her dark brown hair was a wreck and her usual upright appearance was now something more of haggard, her face red from continuous crying. To her right was Molly's second eldest son, Charlie Weasley. He was patting her gently on the head and speaking to her softly, however he glanced up as Remus sat down on the couch. Andromeda glanced up as well and sat up, wiping her face and forcing herself to smile at the man who sat down.

"Oh, Remus. You're here," she declared, trying to tell herself more than him. He simply nodded to her statement and gave her a sad smile. "It's nice to see you."

"And you as well, Andromeda," he told her, running a gentle hand through her hair. He decided to restrain himself from asking how she was, as it was plain to see that she was not well, though she would most likely pretend it. After a few moments silence, Andromeda turned away from the younger man to stare at the fire in the fireplace, though seemingly appreciative of him deciding not to ask how she felt. Remus turned toward Charlie then and gave him a slight smile. "Charlie, it's certainly been a while."

"It certainly has," Charlie admitted, reaching a hand out to Remus, who took it in his own and shook it. "How did things go?"

"They went all right, in my opinion," Remus told him, smiling slightly. "Could have gone better, but it's the best we can do now."

"Anything is excellent, at this point," Charlie pointed out, his smile quickly changing into a thoughtful frown. "Mum, when's Harry getting here?" Remus turned quickly to Mrs. Weasley. The news of Harry's coming was certainly new to him. Mrs. Weasley turned a deep shade of scarlet as all eyes moved to her.

"Bill is bringing him in a week, once we know things are safe here and we get the wards set up securely." Remus nodded and rested back against the couch, deep in thought. Harry Potter would be returning to them. Perhaps this would mark a new beginning for all.

_End Prologue_

Please review. Since this fic has been the only thing on my mind for quite a while, a new chapter should be out soon.


	2. Chapter 1: White Room

Orsa Novus: A New Beginning

By: Lily

Chapter Summary: Nymphadora Tonks, captured by the Death Eaters overhears a conversation. In the meantime, Harry and the others are eagerly awaiting the news of another prisoner of war. Then, something is asked of one of them which could change the course of their lives and maybe even result in a death of one of their own.

Chapter 1: White Room

A door slammed shut. Muffled voices could be heard faintly through the thick stone walls. Nymphadora Tonks was fed up with trying to sleep. The task was nearly impossible in the cold jail cell that the Death Eaters had placed her in. Part of her wished that they had killed her—that would at least be less humiliating. She sat up in her cell to peek through the small opening that her cell allowed. She could see distinctly the silhouettes of Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape. She wished that there was something in her cell to throw at them, but alas, there was none. She would have bet that she could easily peg Severus in the head with a rock. The bloody traitor. Instead, all she had to do was listen carefully to catch what they said.

"Has he been found yet?" Bellatrix demanded, placing her hands on her hips. Lucius frowned deeply and shook his head.

"Not yet, but we have scouts on the lookout for him," he explained. "It shouldn't be long now."

"I don't care how long it will be or who we have out looking for him!" Bellatrix snapped, her voice rising to a shrill (and annoying, in Nymphadora's opinion) tone. "We need him _now_."

"I agree with you perfectly, Bellatrix," Severus cut in, seemingly rather annoyed. "But the fact of the matter is that we don't _have_ him now. Lucius is doing the best he can by sending scouts out to find him." Bellatrix turned to him. Nymphadora couldn't see her face, but she imagined that her expression was something of anger, incredulity, annoyance, or some strange mixture of the three. Lucius looked triumphant.

"My point, Severus," she snapped, finally appearing to have regained the power of speech. "Is that Lucius should be out looking for him as well, since that is what he was assigned to do. You both know the Dark Lord won't be pleased if he hears that you haven't set foot out of your manor in a good two days."

"Perhaps, but then again, you could always learn to phrase your sentences better, Bella," he smirked slightly, apparently amused by her anger now. "Then you wouldn't have to clarify what you meant." Bellatrix let out a frustrated cry.

"You're infuriating," she clenched her fists at her sides as though she were using all the strength inside of her not to hex him. Severus looked rather pleased with himself, which made Nymphadora feel slightly sick.

"That's wonderful to hear, especially from you, Bella," Severus stated with a slight smirk. "But it seems as though our prisoner has finished attempting to sleep and has chosen, instead, to listen to our conversation." Bellatrix whipped around quickly to glare at Nymphadora, who immediately stumbled back and fell to the ground with a soft 'oof' sound.

"How much did you hear?" Bellatrix snapped, though not opening the door. Nymphadora could hear her quite clear now and was about to open her mouth to throw out an insult when Severus spoke again.

"Nothing crucial," he told her, the smugness evident in his tone. "Though she has been listening for a short while."

"Why didn't you say something then?" Bellatrix asked, moving away from the door, her voice strained and irritated once more.

"I felt that we should provide her with a bit of entertainment, via your humiliating conversation." Bellatrix sounded as though she were stammering, attempting to find the words before stomping off.

"Lucius," she stated, though she was further away from Nymphadora's cell now. "I suggest you do as the Dark Lord wishes. That is, if you wish to keep your family safe." With that, she slammed the door shut, most likely leaving. Another set of footsteps hurried to the door without another word and also left. Suddenly, Severus' face appeared at the small opening to Nymphadora's cell.

"What do you want?" she snapped, crossing her arms and glaring from her spot in the middle of the floor.

"I wish to speak with you, though I have been taught never to enter a lady's room without permission."

"Don't you mock me, you backstabbing, murderous, cowardly arse!"

"Such harsh words from a former ally," he stated, smirking and raising his eyebrows.

"Say what you want to say and get out of my sight. Your lord wouldn't be happy if you killed me with your face." Surprisingly, a small chuckle escaped his lips at that comment. "What's so funny?"

"That sounds all too familiar. You are remarkably like your cousin," he stated, moving from his spot looking into her cell to apparently leaning his back against it.

"Don't you talk to me about Sirius," she told him, crossing her arms. "You probably planned that too."

"As much as I regret to inform you of this," Severus sighed softly. "I did not plan that. I, in fact, did have half a mind to save him."

"Don't lie. It makes you seem dumber than you already are."

"I'm not lying," he informed her. "I have no reason to lie about any of this. If you recall, you're the one behind bars."

"You could be lying so that if I escape you can save face and be a spy again," she muttered, crossing her arms. "You hated Sirius! You wanted him dead!"

"Yes, that's true," Severus nodded. Nymphadora was about to cry out in triumph when he began to speak again. "But I wanted to save him that time for one reason."

"What's that?" Nymphadora asked, despite her better judgement begging her not to. Another smirk appeared at Severus' lips, almost savagely.

"Because I wanted to do it myself."

-------------------------------------

The room was white—completely white. The furniture, the ceiling, the carpet, everything was all white save one thing. The curtains were black, casting an eerie glow from the sun onto the floor. The fact that Luna was singing a song softly to herself with lyrics describing the room was even more eerie. There was only a white table and couch for decoration and nothing else, save the window with the black curtains overlooking King's Cross station. Ron was pacing the floor, looking extremely anxious. Hermione had buried herself into a book, finally fed up with watching Ron pace. Neville was transitioning between staring out the window and staring at Luna. And Harry wasn't noticing very much of any of it. He was worried, definitely as worried as Ron, but he felt as though he were the one to blame. Ginny Weasley had been captured by Death Eaters and it was all his fault! If only he'd—

"In the white room, with black curtains, near the station…"

"Could you stop that?" Ron asked, frowning. "How do you make up songs like that?"

"I didn't make it up," Luna protested, glancing up at him with her wide eyes. "It's by Cream."

"Who's—"

"Muggle band," Hermione answered without looking up. "There's no reason to be so irritated, Ron. There's nothing we can do at this point."

"Yes there is! We could be storming the castle! We could be saving everybody!"

"Yes, of course and get ourselves killed the second we approach the door. I don't think so, Ronald." Hermione closed the book with a 'snap.' "The best thing we can do for her right now is have a little bit of faith that Ginny's strong enough to last there, which I'm sure she is."

Ron frowned and slumped down onto the ground, leaning up against the couch. Harry glanced away from them and back out the little window over King's Cross station. It was upsetting that they seemingly couldn't do anything for Ginny. It was especially upsetting that he didn't know if anyone was trying to save her at all. He didn't want to be locked in a safe room; he wanted to go find Ginny. He wanted to hit something—take his anger out on some inanimate object. Unfortunately there weren't very many things in that little room. Just the couch and coffee table.

"Harry?" He glanced up to see Hermione's worried face staring across at him. As she spoke everyone else's attention turned to him as well. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm not good if that's what you want to hear," he snapped, sounding angrier than he'd wanted to. Hermione looked slightly hurt, but went on.

"That wasn't what I was expecting you to feel. I asked because I wanted to know," she said, frowning a little bit.

"Sorry…" Harry sighed softly. "I don't like just sitting here."

"Of course not. With everything you've gone through, sitting around and waiting must seem nerve racking." Ron nodded, apparently agreeing with Hermione.

"Someone's coming," Luna stated.

"How do you know?" Ron asked her, making a face.

"They just knocked on the door when you were talking." All heads immediately turned to the door, almost holding their breath as they waited. Harry wasn't sure what everybody else was thinking, but he was hoping it was news on Ginny's condition. Soon enough, Remus Lupin entered the room, nodding slightly to each of them.

"I'm sorry for all the waiting. That must feel horrible, but I do hope you understand."

"What's going on?" Harry asked, eagerly. It probably seemed rather rude, but he was anxious. Remus smiled understandingly and raised a hand.

"Don't worry. We've received word on Ginny's condition today." It seemed as though everyone simultaneously leaned forward to hear him better. He was unable to keep the grin off his face as he spoke. "She's just fine. A little shaken up and in need of a bath, but alive and quite well." There was another simultaneous reaction: a sigh of relief. Ginny was okay… that was wonderful. But then again…

"We need to get her out of there before she is hurt!" Ron said, frowning. "When can we go?"

"Don't worry. Just wait for a moment. Give me a chance to explain Mr. Weasley." Remus chuckled softly and moved to sit on the couch between Luna and Neville. "Now, we're quite positive that our spy is reliable, yet we're having a bit of a problem with his ability to gain information as he's not quite as trusted as he could be."

"So… she might not be okay?" Ron asked, his voice rising.

"No, no. We're certain that she's fine. He's seen her and spoken with her. He says she's as spunky as ever, there's no need to worry about her, Mr. Weasley, she's being taken care of," he smiled at Ron reassuringly. "However, we do need somebody to go in and pretend to join the Death Eaters to get information from someone who's more eager to tell people of his conquests…"

"Draco Malfoy…" Harry said at once, bitterly. Remus nodded, seemingly pleased that somebody caught on so quickly.

"Do you really think he would tell any of us?" Hermione asked, frowning deeply.

"I don't think he will, I know he will. Draco Malfoy in recent times has become quite restless. He doesn't like to just succeed; he likes to bask in the glory. If he can boast about his success then it will be quite easy to get information out of him."

"Are you suggesting that one of us go?" Neville asked, tilting his head to the side, attempting to understand where Remus was coming from.

"I am for two reasons," he told them, making eye contact with each of them before going on. "He'll want to speak to somebody young and somebody who he considered to be on the wrong side up until now."

"He'll tell us all of that?" Ron asked him in disbelief.

"I believe so. However, this will be extremely dangerous. Not that any of you haven't faced danger before, but this requires infiltrating enemy grounds and possibly receiving the Dark Mark. If you're not up to it, I completely understand and we'll find somebody else for the job."

"If it helps save Ginny, I'll go!" Ron said at once.

"If it's for Ginny," Neville said, nodding.

"I will—"

"No," Remus stated as soon as Harry spoke. "Again, this is infiltrating enemy grounds. I doubt that they will believe that you've turned against yourself." Harry glared at him but became silent once more, stewing in his anger.

"I think Hermione should go," Luna stated suddenly.

"Why me?" Hermione looked rather frightened and confused.

"Because if he can boast to somebody he thought was far inferior to him then he'll be able to take more pride in his conquests. Somebody like Ron who's a pureblood wouldn't be able to appreciate it as much." She crossed her arms and Hermione looked around the room at everybody.

"Would they let me in?"

"They'll let anybody in lately. Trust me, Hermione," Remus said, smiling. "Again, if you don't want to, you don't have to."

"N-no," she shook her head. "I will. I want Ginny back here as much as any of us. She's my best friend and if I have to put myself in danger for her so be it." Ron looked terrified, even more so than Hermione. He switched between glaring at Luna to looking over at Hermione in mixed sadness and hopefulness.

"Are you absolutely positive?" Remus asked her, studying her closely. "Remember that you can't truly return here until your task is finished. Even then, you may have to stay longer. This is a large commitment, Hermione. If you want to have time to think about it—"

"I'll go," she cut him off, looking determined now. "I want to save Ginny."

"Very well," Remus nodded and smiled at her slightly. "I'll tell the other Order members. If you'll wait here." He stood up and placed a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder, who shrugged it off. Remus looked slightly hurt but turned and left the room. All was silent for a moment before Hermione spoke.

"Harry… you do understand why you can't go…"

"I know. Be careful, Hermione. Okay?"

"O-okay…" she nodded, smiling slightly. Hermione looked at each person in the room. Her eyes lingered on Ron's for just a moment before she turned away. Harry glanced over at his best friend, who looked horribly upset, and gave him a little nudge.

'You should say something,' Harry mouthed to him. Ron glanced at Hermione and frowned deeply. He nodded slowly, but seemed to be at a loss of what to say.

"Erm… Hermione?"

"Yes, Ronald?" she glanced up at him, forcing herself to smile.

"I… erm, well… that is…" Hermione looked hopeful as Ron spoke, blushing furiously. "What I mean is… um… good luck and I know you'll be okay because you're the smartest girl I know!" Hermione's face fell slightly, but she nodded anyway.

"I will, I promise. I want to see all of you again."

"You have to promise that you'll come back safe and sound," Luna told her. "That way you'll be sure to keep your promise."

"Yeah!" Neville finally spoke up, frowning deeply. "You have to promise so you'll be okay, Hermione!" Harry wasn't entirely sure how her promising to be safe would keep her safe, but he didn't argue with them. Perhaps they just needed some hope to hold onto.

"All right. I promise to come back safely," she said, smiling warmly at them. She glanced at Harry, who nodded to her. She hesitated a moment before flinging her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Harry! Everything will be all right! I'll do what I can to save Ginny!"

"I know you will, Hermione," Harry sighed softly and wrapped his arms around her. She released him and turned to hug Luna and Neville as well. She then turned to Ron, who stood rooted on the spot. Hermione didn't move to hug him as she had with the others. Eventually, he took a step toward her and she repeated her actions as with Harry: launching forward to pull him into a tight embrace.

"Take care of Harry, Ron," she told him softly. "He needs you."

"Yeah, I will," he smiled slightly and closed his eyes. "You take care of yourself, okay? Don't get reckless and stuff. Remember, you're in enemy territory."

"Don't be silly, Ron. I'll be fine." She released him and smiled as the door opened once again. Remus Lupin entered once more and simply stood in the doorway.

"Are you finished with goodbyes, or do you need more time?"

"N-no, I'm ready," Hermione told him.

"All right. Come with me and we'll debrief you on the situation." He nodded to her and stepped aside to let her through. She nodded slowly and leaned up to kiss Ron on the cheek before hurrying out of the room, allowing Remus to close the door behind her. Ron reached up and touched the spot where he'd been kissed. He spun around to say something, but she was gone.

END CH. 1


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